The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA) consortium has announced a far reaching plan - three years in the making - to solve the looming water crisis in parts of South Africa, starting in the Western Cape.  Under the leadership of Dr. Konstant Bruinette, former Chairman of the consulting team behind the acclaimed Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), the consortium's plan uses the principle of gravity-driven pipelines to bring water to drought stricken areas.

Intrinsic to the plan is that each project will pay for itself over a number of years.

TAWA comprises civil engineers, government partners and other relevant role players.  Although the idea of building gravity-driven water delivery systems for Southern Africa is not new, the significant funding challenges posed have meant that these ideas have, until now, not been implemented to deliver the water  required.

The 2017 water crisis in the Western Cape has prompted TAWA to promote four major pipeline projects to the Western Cape authorities, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority, Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation and the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission as well as authorities in Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.

The proposed major pipelines are the line from a new dam on the Orange River at Vioolsdrif to the Cape Town Metro; the line from Vioolsdrif to  Swakopmund;  a line from the Kunene River to outside Windhoek; and a fourth line from the Zambezi River to Eastern Botswana and South Africa.

Plans and cost estimates for four smaller pipelines have also been prepared and proposed to various water authorities. These are from the Eastern Cape's Van Der Kloof Dam to deliver water to Port Elizabeth and then to Cape Town; a second line from Boegoeberg to Cape Town; a third from Colenso to Albert Falls and on to Durban, and lastly from western Lesotho to the Modder River to supply water to Bloemfontein.

Bruinette and his team believe these gravity lines will solve the bulk of water problems in Southern Africa. The main constraining factor for water authorities is the funding required for these projects.

TAWA has responded by actively seeking funders for these long term plans.

Less cost than desalination
According to Bruinette, the most urgent project is the construction of a first phase Vioolsdrif Dam on the Orange River, and then to build a gravity-driven water delivery pipeline to the existing Voelvlei Dam, which currently supplies water to the Cape Town Metro water system.
This is so that the Western Cape no longer has to rely only on rainfall and be at the mercy of intermittent, catastrophic droughts.
The cost of the project will vary from US$2.5 billion to $4,5-billion depending on whether the Cape Town water supply quantity is expanded by 15% or to 50%.
The proposed cost is below US$1 per cubic meter which is a fraction of the cost of desalinated water and can be delivered over four years from start of the project to completion.
Later phases include plans to similarly bring water to Swakopmund in Namibia, as well as other drought stricken areas of Botswana and South Africa.

Reliable and sustainable
By way of background, a gravity-driven system allows water to flow through pipelines over vast distances under the force of gravity without the use of external and costly energy sources such as pumping.  Gravity-flow water delivery systems are reliable, cost-effective and can deliver large quantities of water to areas a long way from the source.

In 1986, Lesotho and South Africa signed a treaty to harness the former's abundant water resources. Dr. Bruinette’s engineering consultancy, BKS, in a joint venture with Acres International of Canada, was then commissioned to plan, design and project manage the construction of Phase One of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

Since then the LHWP has been acknowledged as a feat of engineering excellence, its essential achievement being the use of gravity fed tunnels and pipelines from dams to divert water from the mountains of Lesotho to water-starved Gauteng and other areas.

Dr. Bruinette explained, “This concept is not new and goes back thousands of years to Roman times.  As long as the source of the water is higher in altitude than the delivery point, the water will continue to flow.  The Romans successfully used aqueducts to move water over vast distances under gravity.  This literally transformed civilization in Europe.  Obviously, modern technology allows us to vastly improve on this ancient system.”

Opportune time
Questions will inevitably arise about international co-operation, funding, environmental impact and many other key issues. These will be answered.
However having worked on the scheme over the past three years, Dr. Bruinette and his partners believe the time is now for government, business, development agencies and other stakeholders to seriously consider an economically-sound and practical solution to the problem of water supply to Cape Town, and other areas in southern Africa, over the next 50 years.

“This solution is not a fantastic pipe-dream. LHWP has shown over more than 30 years that a gravity-driven water supply is a practical and economic way of solving the problem,” Dr Bruinette said. “We are actively engaging with potential investors in South Africa, Europe, USA and the UAE and we need government, local authorities and the general public to get behind this project.” he concluded.

/ends

About TAWA
The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA) was registered in 1972 by Dr Konstant Bruinette an expert in the field of water with over 30 years of experience delivering water successfully to Gauteng via the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), for which he was the team leader in the early 80's. Thirty years on Phase Two of  the LHWP is underway. The proposed TAWA plan is to supply fresh water from the major rivers in Southern Africa, the Orange River, the Kunene River and the Zambezi River, by gravity with no pumping, to the thirsty countries of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana.

Issued on behalf of:  The Trans Africa Water Alliance (TAWA)
Client contact:            Dr Konstant Bruinette
Email:                          This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Editorial contact:        Kerry Botha
Tel. No.                       083 263 0644
Email:                         This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About Dr Bruinette
Dr. Konstant Bruinette has a PhD in structural engineering from the University of Illinois, USA, where the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) funded his doctoral thesis on the Analysis of Space Frames. He received MSc(Eng) and BSc(Eng) degrees from the University of Pretoria – both Cum Laude.

He is a member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering and a Professional Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa.  He was for many years a member of the American Association of Civil Engineers as well as a Board member of the Foundation of Research Development, a sister organization of the CSIR.

He is a leader of people and businesses with strong engineering, technical and innovative skills.

Cape Town, May 16: FuseForward, a provider of cloud and analytic solutions, is demonstrating the benefits real-time analytics can deliver to African utilities during the African Utility Week conference and exhibition.

Held from 14-16 May in Cape Town, South Africa, African Utility Week is the leading conference for African power, energy and water professionals. FuseForward’s Founder and CEO, Mark Damm, is excited about the opportunity to provide analytic solutions that shed light on the challenges faced by utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Utilities in Africa face a range of issues, many of which affect their ability to meet basic demands for water and electricity,” says Mark. “We know that the availability of reliable and complete data is critical in order for utilities to find solutions to their challenges.

Data from IoT devices and smart meters can help, but developing the technology required to ingest, store and make sense of this information is a barrier for many resource-strapped utilities.” FuseForward’s cloud platform provides a secure, reliable way for utilities to store, aggregate and analyze data from their IoT and smart devices, delivering the comprehensive performance information utilities need within a single interface.

Example utility challenges that FuseForward can address include:

• Demand management: Data from devices and external sources can be used to predict peak electricity or water usage times, enabling better management of resources.
• Preventative maintenance: Deteriorating infrastructure can often be the cause of outages in Sub-Saharan Africa.

By analyzing sensor data from equipment and infrastructure, utilities can obtain real-time maintenance alerts, preventing outages before they occur.

With the event set to close today, Mark is optimistic about the future for the industry, and the role FuseForward can play. “We’ve had a chance to hear first-hand about the challenges facing utilities and are looking forward to the opportunity to help solve them. Not only do analytic solutions in this sector have the ability to provide business improvements for utilities, they also play a role in improving the delivery of power and water across Sub-Saharan Africa—and that’s something our team is very enthusiastic about!”

About FuseForward
FuseForward is an AWS Advanced Technology Partner and Select Consulting Partner that provides secure cloud environments and analytic solutions for critical infrastructure providers and public agencies. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, we serve customers around the world from our offices in South Africa, Europe and North America.

For more information visit www.fuseforward.com

Media Contact: Wendy Scott at +27 83 270 7765 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Water a key focus at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town in May

A Cape Town bottling plant has managed to reduce its waste water by over 60%, saving more than 90 million litres of municipal water since January 2017.

The Epping-based The Beverage Company produces over 1.5 million bottles of carbonated soft drinks per week and uses on average 30 000 litres of water per hour. According to the plant manager David Putterill, last year’s looming Day Zero for water supply in Cape Town had less impact on the business “due to the various actions we took in advance of the crisis. In mid-2016 we started various projects to save water and these are on-going. In the last year we have sustained our water saving so that even though the water restrictions have been partially lifted, we keep the same focus on saving water.”

World Water Day, a UN initiative, is celebrated on 22 March every year and focuses on the importance of water and this year’s theme is ‘Leaving no one behind’, adapting the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that as sustainable development progresses, everyone must benefit.

Water conference in May
Water also remains one of the key topics and discussion points at the annual African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town, where from 14-16 May, the conference will bring together experts from public and private sectors to support municipalities as they become more responsive and efficient in their water practices.

Part of this knowledge exchange are the technical site visits taking place on 17 May, including at The Beverage Company bottling plant. “Delegates will see the bottling plant and the water saving projects that were implemented that helped us reduce our waste water and saving million of litres of municipal water” says The Beverage Company’s David Putterill. “They will also see our alternative water supply project that we have initiated to reduce our dependence on the municipal water supply by installing our own boreholes and reverse osmosis plant.”

He adds: “it has been fascinating to see what can be achieved when a team applies their mind to a particular goal. It has also been a huge learning curve for all concerned, learning about water treatment, alternative water sources, geohydrology and many other topics.” 

See David Putterill’s full interview here and click here for a video of The Beverage Company facilities and their exciting water savings initiatives.  

More water experts and speakers at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa include:

- “The greatest challenge facing global water security is global transformation. The world is changing as we look on and this is happening at a very fast pace and impacting heavily on available natural resources, including fresh water.”
- Paul Yillia, Guest Research Scholar (Water Programme), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, winner of 2018 African Utility Week Industry Award for Outstanding Contribution Award for Water and chairperson of African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa’s water conference.

- “We have made a real and profound difference intercepting Day Zero, by helping the City of Cape Town fast track the use of intelligent water infrastructure“
- Shannon Vermaak, marketing manager for Utility Systems, platinum sponsors at the upcoming African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa. Click here for the full interview.

- “Utilities and municipalities need to operate more as a business. As the sector transforms, they can either be a hurdle or a catalyst for the private sector and the country as a whole” 
- Dhasi Naidoo, Chief Strategy Officer, Ontec, South Africa and speaker in the water conference.

- “Climate change impacts are imminent; however, most key institutions are not fully prepared to deal with such impacts”
- Sicelo N. Mashwama, Environment, Health & Safety Manager at Swaziland Water Services Corporation and Advisory Board member of African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa.Click here for the full interview.

- “Cape Town is a good example that Africa has started to face the effects of climate change by investigating alternative water resources and minimizing the loss of non-revenue water and general water use.”
- Jan Kürstein, Hydrogeologist and Senior Consultant Water and Natural Resources at Rambøll in Denmark, even advisory board member and speaker. Click here for the full interview.

Session topics at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa’s water conference include: 

- Tackling the escalating drought threat: Embarking on climate change resilience
- Managing water conservation resources in light of the on-going drought
- Water technology innovation platform in Africa
- Demonstrating, applying and commercialising the required technology
- Water metering and monitoring
- Water treatment advancements
- Water sector funding and incentives
- Meeting municipal demand

The 19th edition of this flagship conference and exhibition is expected to attract more than 10 000 water and energy professionals this year.

International pavilions
Apart from the official U.S. country pavilion at African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa showcasing specialised technology and services for the utility, metering, renewable and water industries, country pavilions from Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India and Poland have also already confirmed their presence at the 3-day event in May.

Industry support
A multi-award-winning conference and exhibition, African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa has already secured the support from industry stalwarts including Conlog, Dromex, Landis+Gyr, Sumitomo and Utility Systems as platinum sponsors and Aberdare, ADC Energy, Sulzer and Toshiba as gold sponsors.

African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa is the flagship energy event organised by Spintelligent, a multi-award-winning Cape Town-based exhibition and conference producer across the continent in the energy, infrastructure, mining and agriculture sectors. Other well-known events by Spintelligent include Future Energy East Africa, Future Energy Nigeria, the Utility CEO Forums, Agritech Expo Zambia, Nigeria Mining Week and DRC Mining Week. Spintelligent is part of the UK-based Clarion Events Group and African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa form part of Clarion Energy, which runs over 40 events that cover the oil, gas, power and energy sectors, making it one of Clarion Events’ largest portfolios.

Dates for African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa:
Conference and expo: 14-16 May 2019
Site visits: 17 May 2019
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa
Website: http://www.african-utility-week.com  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities    #AUW2019   
Linkedin: African Utility Week

Contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone:  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Living in a healthy manner is a subjective subject. Health can be defined as various expressions by different individuals. As such, we explore something less subjective – the impact of water temperature on the body. 

Cold Water

More often consumed on when one is hot or thirsty – cold water is a great way to thermoregulate the body when there is excess heat generated. The most common time this occurs is when during warmer days or when there is exercise involved. The cold water also serves to replenish fluids lost to perspiration.  
On the note of cold water, it is more effective to consume chilled water rather than ice cold water as your body would need to normalise the temperature for use. Chilled water still goes through normalisation processes but at the same time serves to cool the body down. In the case of ice cold water, it serves to shock the system and cause cramping. This normalisation process actually burns calories and as such can help boost your metabolism.  The taste of cold water is also more palatable to those beginning their path to the recommended daily intake of water – being roughly 8 cups. 

Room Temperature Water  

Room Temperature (or ambient) Water is beneficial for digestion. Warm water assists in flushing our hardened minerals and fats that do not serve the body positively. In this flushing process it also serves to ensure regular bowel movements. As room temperature water is easier for the body to process through its lack of need for thermoregulation for the body – it can help with relaxation of body parts and function processes in the body. An example of this is that of relaxation of blood vessels affording better blood circulation. 
Room temperature water is also the temperature of choice for singers and voice actors as it serves to relax and warm the vocal chords. 

Hot and Warm Water 

Conversely to cold water, ambient water can help negate and even subdue cramping by regulating body temperature. Studies show that the introduction of heat to the body – internal or external (as with a hot water bottle) – pain receptors get deactivated in favour of the heat receptors. 
Warm water also offers the benefit of assisting during a detox. As the aim of a detox is to remove toxins in the body, the warm water helps to promote perspiration – stimulating the removal of toxins from the body. Toxins get removed through sweat and which is in turn replaced with warm water. 

If you want to ensure you and your local environment stay hydrated – be it with cold, ambient or warm water - contact us on 021 813 6631 or alternatively email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“I know the energy revolution is powering up and ready to take off”

Sierra Leone’s Kandeh Yumkella of the Sustainable Energy For All Initiative, Johannesburg’s City Power, George Airport and Akon Lighting are just some of the exciting and pioneering power and water professionals, utilities and projects that were winners in this year’s African Utility Week Industry Awards. Uganda’s NWSC won the coveted water utility of the year award for the second year in a row.

The winners of these prestigious industry awards in 11 different categories were announced at the gala dinner that took place on Wednesday evening, 18 May, during the annual African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa at the CTICC in Cape Town. More than 5000 power and water professionals gathered in Cape Town for the event.

Mr Kandeh Yumkella, UN Under-Secretary-General and Former Special Representative of the Secretary-General and CEO, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), won the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also an inspired keynote speaker on the opening day of African Utility Week on Tuesday. On receiving his award Mr Yumkella said: “I know the energy revolution is powering up and ready to take off. We saw again this week that we have the technology and the innovation. Sometimes we are too suspicious of each other, we should embrace energy trade with each other”.

City Power = Utility of the Year
City Power won the award for Power Utility of the Year, particularly in recognition of the utility’s flagship Solar Water Heating Programme in which approximately 70 000 low income households around Johannesburg were fitted with solar water geysers over a period of three years.

Says Sicelo Xulu, City Power Managing Director: “We are pleased that once again the diligent work that has been done by the City Power team has been recognized and acknowledged. This award is an affirmation of the hard work that has been done by the City Power team, and this accolade galvanizes us to work harder to provide our customers with the superior service they deserve.”

The winners and finalists for the third annual African Utility Week Industry Awards are:

Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General.
As Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Chief Executive Officer of the initiative, he mobilized global action towards a sustainable energy future and was responsible for the planning and implementation of the initiative as well as engaging with the leadership of relevant stakeholders in government, businesses, academia and civil society at the highest level to advocate for and promote sustainable energy for all. 

With over 25 years of international experience, Dr. Yumkella previously served as Director-General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for two four-year terms (2005-2013). Dr. Yumkella is co-Founder of the African Energy Leaders Group and is a Commissioner at the Energy Transitions Commission. A recipient of numerous international awards, he is a former Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises of Sierra Leone.

Finalists:
- Akinwole Omoboriowo II, Chairman & CEO, Genesis Energy, Nigeria
- Albert Butare, CEO & Chairman, Africa Energy Services Group Ltd, Rwanda
- Anton Eberhard, Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Elham Mahmood Ahmed Ibrahim, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union, Ethiopia
- Grania Rosette Rubomboras, Program Officer: Power Projects, Nile Basin Initiative NELSAP, Uganda
- Hamanth Kasan, General Manager: Scientific Services Water, Rand Water, South Africa
- Henry Paul Batchi Baldeh, Senior Vice President/Head: Power, Africa Finance Corporation, Nigeria
- Hindpal S. Jabbal, Former Chairman, Energy Regulatory Commission, Kenya
- Jacob Kow Mensah, Clean and Alternative Energy Researcher/Inventor, Sustainable Energy and Environment Project, Ghana

Category: Power Utility of the Year
Winner:  City Power, South Africa - In a flagship Solar Water Heating Programme approximately 70 000 low income households around Johannesburg were fitted with solar water geysers over a period of three years. This project generated 20 000 job opportunities and was one of the biggest projects of its kind in South Africa. The installation of smart meters has gone a long way in improving billing accuracy and enhancing City’s revenue collection capabilities. Over 92 000 smart meters have been rolled out across Johannesburg, and the target is to deploy 250 000 meters by mid-2016.

Finalists:
- Ghana Grid Company Limited, Ghana
- KenGen, Kenya
- Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited, Kenya
- Volta River Authority, Ghana

Category: Power Utility Executive of the Year
Winner:  Mr Albert Mugo, MD & CEO KenGen, Kenya – Mr Mugo has worked in the energy sector for over 30 years. In January 2014, he was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of KenGen where he is currently leading a team of Executive Directors in the mandate of rapidly increasing electricity generation capacity that Kenya needs in order to achieve its 2030 Vision. In this position, he is executing a strategy of least cost power development options in order to provide reliable, safe and competitively priced energy to the nation.

Finalists:
- Phillip Dukashe, Project Director, Eskom, South Africa   
- Selestino Babungi, MD & CEO, Umeme, Uganda   
- William Amuna, CEO, GRIDCo, Ghana   

Category: Water Utility of the Year
Winner: The National Water & Sewerage Corporation, Uganda - In 2015, the NWSC cemented its position as a key player in the water sector both on the local and international scene. They undertook transformational changes in its operational and geographical mandate, providing new and home grown solutions to water service provision challenges and highlighting its contribution towards the National Vision of transforming Uganda from a peasant to a self-sustaining economy.

Finalists:
- Moshi Urban Water and Sewerage Authority, Tanzania
- Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, Kenya
- Rand Water, South Africa
- Umgeni Water, South Africa

Category: Water Utility Executive of the Year
Winner: Engr. Philip Gichuki, the Managing Director of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Ltd. The utility is the sole provider of water and sewerage services to the City of Nairobi with a population of about 3.8 million. He has over the years promoted the objective of the water sector in Kenya in improving access to water and sewerage services for all under a conducive environment for the consumers, communities, partners and staff working in the sector.

Finalists:
- David Onyango, Managing Director, Kisumu Water & Sewerage, Kenya   
- Silver Mugisha, Managing Director, National Water & Sewerage Corporation, Uganda   

Category: Clean Energy Project of the Year
Winner: The Akon Lighting Africa Initiative – the project is implementing an innovative solar-powered solution that is providing African villages with access to a clean and affordable source of electricity. Since launching, the group has operations in 15 nations, including Guinea Conakry, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin and Sierra Leone and is covering over 480 communities.

Finalists:
- ACWA Power, Solafrica Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power Project, South Africa
- Mobisol, Off-grid solar system, Tanzania
- NVI Energy, “Pay as you use” Solar Project, Kenya
- Vuselela Energy, Eternity Power Thermal Harvesting™, South Africa

Category: Pioneer in Project Finance
Winner:  The Development Bank of Southern Africa - the DBSA has developed an innovative financing instrument to support local parties and communities to acquire equity stakes in companies. The success of the business model is that the local partners then are included in the overall financing package leading to an overall sustainable financing package. The model can be replicated and the DBSA has already replicated it in 17 projects with a capacity of 2100 MW and continues to be duplicated in other transactions.

“More than anything it is a testament to the hard work of the energy team and visionary leadership of the DBSA in addressing South Africa’s energy challenge” said Lungile Mashele, Energy Specialist at DBSA, who received the award on behalf of the bank. She added: “the DBSA is responding to the call of Government to support the renewable projects and would also like to get involved in projects beyond South Africa’s borders.”

Finalists:
- African Development Bank
- Danida Business Finance
- FMO
- International Finance Corporation & Overseas Private Investment Corporation

Category: Community Development Project of the Year
Winner:  The Noble Water Solutions – The Noble Power Station is the only high volume, low-maintenance, portable solar-powered water treatment plant of its kind in the world. Each water station provides 500 people with 20 litres of safe drinking water every day for life. “We have a huge problem in Africa and we have to recognise that” said Kevin Paxton, CEO of Noble Water Solutions, “a third of the continent, that is 300 million people, do not have access to safe drinking water. We cannot develop as a continent unless we solve this problem. Our invention goes some way to addressing this problem, but where there is no political will, it will not happen.” This is Noble Water Solutions’ tenth award for its work in the water sector.

Finalists:
- Akon Lighting Africa, various Countries
- Eco-fuel Africa Limited, Uganda
- Magiro Hydroelectric, Kenya
- Solar Sister, Uganda, Tanzania

Category: Future Leader Award
Winner:  Michael Njoroge, CEO, Multi-link Group Ltd, Kenya - Michael started the Multi-link Group Limited in April 2010 as a small company that focused on addressing the challenges of poor households by supplying clean cooking stoves and solar lanterns to help address the issue of Indoor air pollution and also help in environmental conservation and on the other hand develop grid connected clean energy projects. As an energy liaison for Greening Kenya Initiative Trust he has helped create energy forums in county levels, and assisted in training 600 green energy champions. Currently Multi-link is completing the development of the 3M 40MW grid connected solar project in Mai Mahiu, Nakuru County, Kenya. When it connects to the grid in 2017, the project will be the largest grid connected solar project in East and Central Africa.

Finalists:
- Chimaobi Daniel NNA, Research Officer 1, Energy Commission of Nigeria
- Jarrad Wright, Principal Researcher/Engineer, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa   
- Loda Dedekind, Associate: Power Generation, Aurecon, South Africa       
- Lungile Mashele, Sector Specialist: Energy, Development Bank of Southern Africa, South Africa   
- Siya Xuza, Founder and Managing Director, Galactic Energy Ventures, South Africa
- Werner van Antwerpen, Head: Utilities & Sustainability Growthpoint Properties, South Africa   

Category: Power/Water Woman of the Year
Winner:  Phyllis Engefu Ombonyo, Director: Business Development, National Environment Trust Fund, Kenya

Finalists:
- Bertha Dlamini, Managing Director, EON Consulting, South Africa
- Grania Rosette Rubomboras, Program Officer: Power Projects, Nile Basin Initiative /NELSAP, Uganda
- Jasandra Nyker, Chief Executive Officer, BioTherm Energy, South Africa   
- Rose Kaggwa, Director Business & Scientific Services, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda   
- Rudo Angela Sanyanga, Africa Program Director, International Rivers, South Africa   
- Tlaleng Moabi, Managing Director, Enzani Technologies, South Africa   

Category: Energy/Water Efficiency Project of the Year
Winner: George Airport Solar Plant - owned and operated by Airports Company South Africa it has constructed and recently officially opened a Solar Photovoltaic Plant to meet about 41% of its energy demand. The Solar Powered Plant was built on 200 square meters of land and has 3,000 photovoltaic modules, 30 inverters and a substation and the plant’s peak production is 750kW.

Finalists:
- Bayside Mall, Growthpoint Properties, South Africa
- CitiCall, Analog, South Africa
- Hotel Verde, South Africa
- King Shaka International Airport, Airports Company South Africa, South Africa
- Network Upgrade and Street Lighting Project, Kenya Power, Kenya
- Upper Grayston Block F, Tower Property Fund, South Africa
- V&A Waterfront Solar Farm, V&A Waterfront & Sustainable Power Solutions, South Africa

Innovation Hub Awards:
Fifteen SMEs, start-ups and young innovators were selected for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the African Utility Week’s Innovation Hub and take their businesses to the next level.

The winner: PowerOptimal, a power demand management technology that is commercially proven in diverse installations such as hotels, office buildings, shopping malls and golf courses. The Innovation Hub finalists were: Aquaponic Farmer (Pty) Ltd; Bontle Ke Tlhago; D&C Technologies (Pty) Ltd; Ekasi Energy; Garth Middleton; GCX Africa; HeliosLite; Mobile4Energy; SAGIFON Technologies; SeeSaw; Solarus; Tiisetso Dev Solutions (Pty); Ltd/TDS Innovations; WHC; Upande.

Industry support
Once again the utility sector has responded well to what is now becoming a sought-after event on the African industry calendar and the lead sponsor for the gala dinner was Poweroad Africa. Other award sponsors were Accenture, Genesis Energy, Kampstrup, Lucy Electric, Steinmüller and Standard Bank. Mazars were the independent verification partners.

The 16th African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and trade exhibition features 250 exhibitors, 250 speakers, a six stream strategic conference, a free-to-attend technical conference on the expo floor, three high-profile keynote sessions and technical site visits. The trade exhibition is free and showcases water and energy saving technologies and services for the industry and feature hands-on demonstrations and CPD-accredited technical workshops on the exhibition floor.

African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa are organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. The event forms part of a global energy event series, including European Utility Week, Australian Utility Week, Asian Utility Week and Latin American Utility Week. Other African flagship events in Spintelligent’s power portfolio are East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), iPAD Rwanda Power & Mining Investment Forum and iPAD Cameroon Energy & Infrastructure Forum.

Website: www.african-utility-week.com 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities 
Linkedin: African Power Forum

Contact:
Senior communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone: +27 82 562 7844
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.